QUARANTINE BLOG # 47

May 16, 2020

My apologies for not finishing the story of the color red in yesterday’s blog, but that was then and this is now and heeeere’s red.

For centuries red was a status symbol, and the competition to produce the best, long lasting color was fierce.  The leader in the red production was Venice, and dyers all over Europe struggled to find something that would compare.

While what they did in Venice was a secret, the competition swept onto the scene from Mexico in the form of an insect called “cochineal.”  The little parasite lives on cactus and to protect itself produces a brilliant red dye which tastes really bad to predators.

That is all well and good, but cochineal was expensive.  It took 70,000 of the little critters to produce one pound of dye.  Leaving out most of the details in the story, a young scientist, William Henry Perkin, created a synthetic dye (mauve, actually) and when other synths followed, the price came down.  The year was 1856, and Perkin was only 18 years old.

When the price got too low, the which of which there is no whicher stopped wearing red because commoners could now afford it, and who wanted to look like a commoner?

The “little black dress” became all the rage, and bright colors were out of fashion. The red dress was associated with fallen women.  Hollywood helped spread that image from Scarlett O’Hara to Jessica Rabbit (she wasn’t bad, she was just drawn that way).

That conception continued until the 1980s when First Lady Nancy Reagan introduced “Power Red.”  White House press correspondents noticed, and to get President Ronald Reagan’s attention, they took to wearing red dresses and red ties.

Regardless of what the fashion mavens dictates, red still holds us.  It is the color of passion, energy, heat, and excitement.  It is the first crayon taken out of a new box.  Red lipstick, red lights, red sports cars, red sale signs, red flags: all catch our eye and demand our attention – proof that red remains in our blood.

👉 As of this writing, there is no agreement between MLB owners and players about starting the season.  And as you suspected, it is all about money.  The players want the March agreement of pro-rated salaries kept, while the owners want to institute baseball’s first revenue sharing package (long overdue) with a 50-50 split.  Anyone want to bet on there being any major league baseball played this year?

👉 I forgot to tell you on Tuesday that WalMart has announced a second special cash bonus for its employees.  If you are employed at Sam Walton’s stores as of June 5 and are a full-time associate your bonus is $300.  Part-timers get $150.

👉 As of Thursday, if you want to go to the movies, GTC theaters (Georgia Theater Company) are offering movies by appointment, and that includes the theater in Augusta.  For $100 you can take yourself and nine friends and the theater is all yours.  This week’s tempter for me is the Pierce Brosnan Bond film, Golden Eye.  But I have it on DVD and since sheltering in place in Georgia is for 10 or fewer people we can watch it in our family room for free, and I’ll make the popcorn.

👉 Comet SWAN, discovered in late March, is approaching its closest venture to the sun, and if you are up before dawn and look towards the northeast, you may catch a glimpse of it.  The comet is largely a gas body which means, in astronomy terms, that it isn’t that bright an object in the night sky.

But if you are up early between now and May 24, and look just above the horizon, you might catch this star trekker.

👉 Amidst the news that two cruise line top executives are leaving the industry, Carnival Corporation announced layoffs and furloughs Thursday.  The company will also cut pay of senior management.  Holland America Line President Orlando Ashford will leave at the end of May.  Seabourn Cruise Line, president Richard Meadows is also retiring.  Insiders say as many as 1,400 furloughs will occur and 1,100 layoffs throughout the Holland America and Princess companies.  These are land-based layoffs, as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues to decimate the entire cruise industry.

👉  “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable.  Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17 – New Living Translation).

Like you, I’ve heard many news stories about businesses on the brink of failure, from Mom and Pop’s store, to a one-off restaurant, to the airline and cruise industry.  And it’s real.  As real as the keyboard on which I’m typing, or the device on which you are reading this blog.

And then I go back to the Book of Instructions, the Bible.

Elisha tells a widow to borrow empty pots and pans from her neighbors.  She sends her sons on the collection venture.  Then she starts pouring oil out of the one little jar of oil she has – and that’s all she has.  And the oil keeps flowing.  And the pots keep filling.  And only when the last borrowed skillet is filled does the oil stop.  As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil does not stop!

“Uh, Mom, that’s the last pot!”

“Son, go borrow some more!”

The nation of Israel in the wilderness going from Egypt to the Promised Land is hungry and thirsty, but then heaven’s bread appears on the ground every morning and a Rock follows them around gushing out water.

David sits at an unlikely banquet with an unlikely audience watching.  It’s a table prepared by the Shepherd in the presence of David’s enemies.  And there is no shortage of supply.  His cup runs over.

With hope in God’s past dealings with His people, and with confidence in His Word, “Let character be without love of money, being content with the present things.  He Himself has said, “I will never let you go, nor will I by any means forsake you, so that while being confident we say the Lord is a helper for me and I will not fear.” (Hebrews 13:5-6 Disciples’ Literal New Testament).  

These times are tough.  God is tougher!

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